V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N! Is...now over. Darn it.
I'm Feeling: 
determined
So...lots has happened over the week. I had a week off from school soooo...vacation! :)
Last Saturday, went to Greg's, and he took me to the beach for the first time of the season. It was a beautiful day, and kind of breezy, and we walked out on the rocks and sat there for a while. It was so nice. :)
Sunday, cantored at St. Tom's for the first time all year. I think I did a pretty darn good job. What was especially fun about that was that we started a new Alleluia, thanks to Peter's suggesting it, and I got to introduce it to the congregation. It's kind of a gospel-inspired one (from the Spirit Song book) that totally lends itself to embellishment, and it's really fun to sing. Before that, though, my friend Kevin and I, and our choir director Jane after a while, spent the afternoon at Peter's for a cookout. It was a great time! Peter's a good cook, lol. We walked around his house, which is actually an official historic building of CT because it was built in (I believe) 1862, and it's beautiful. We played bocce in the backyard (Pete decided we needed to showcase my "skills" and that he wanted to prove himself again...lol...), and then laughed till our sides hurt playing "Hummmble".
Monday, went back to Peter's house (myself this time) for dinner and we watched "Chuck" and "24" and chatted. Am now hooked on "Chuck". Not so much for the other one. We also looked at some of the stuff from his Italy trip last year. :)
Tuesday, Mom and Dad came up to campus for Laura's tap show. Saw more cousins than I was anticipating, but that's OK. She did a great job, and I found out that a member of my cohort is a very talented member of the tap team.
Wednesday was Michel(l)e Squared's Epic Day Of Shopping. I bought so many presents and cards and stuff and...I'm still not done gift shopping, really. Good thing I have finals week off. I also bought myself 2 new pairs of flats.
Thursday was our Epic Adventure to New Haven. Michelle and I drove to her house in Clinton and picked up her sister Sally, then to East Haven to pick up her Aunt Marge who is visiting from California. We went to the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and Greg met up with us there, and it ended up being a lot of fun! Michelle's Aunt Marge is hilarious. She's just...I can't explain. Here are some examples. Note how almost all of the things coming out of her mouth end in an exclamation point.
"Oh, who's THAT??"
"Aunt Marge, this is my roommate, Michele."
"Well isn't SHE just the CUTEST THING EVER! Nice to meet you!" She gives me a hug, then immediately starts touching my face. "Honey, you feel warm, are you feeling sick?"
"No, it was just warm in the car..."
I'm used to this from my own family. I realize now that there are people who would not be OK with this. And also, she LOVES Greg, which was funny in itself. Even when she was only first seeing him from across the parking lot, she knew he was my boyfriend and started kidding around yelling "DARLING!! YOU'RE HERE!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUUUU!!!" which he of course played right into, much to her delight. We found out that Greg's church is the one that she grew up attending, too. Upon Greg's parting ways with us...
"Oh honey, he's wonderful! You two are such a cute couple!"
"Thanks, Aunt Marge."
"Really! You hang on to him! He's not one you throw back in! He's what you call husband material! He will never leave you, he will never cheat on you! I approve! And when you get married, give me a call, because you need to get married at St. Stanislaus!"
"OoooK, Aunt Marge!"
And apparently, she confided to Sally while we were in the museum that she wanted to grab Greg's butt. XD
On the way home, it was about 7:30, and in a spur-of-the-moment decision, we got off an exit early (after dinner at Friendly's and dropping Aunt Marge back home) and went to watch the sunset at Hammonassett Beach. A perfect ending to the day.
Friday Mom and Dad came back to campus and came to a scholarship night with me because I was awarded a (modest) Neag scholarship. It was really nice, they gave me a beautiful certificate with a case nicer than my high school diploma case, lol...I almost felt like I was back in high school again. The best part, though, was that after the ceremony, one of the professors from the EDLR office where I work in Gentry (or did...it's been ages since I've had hours...) who is ALSO a Michele with one L (!!!!) gushed about me and how great it is/was to have me in the office, and how much she was looking forward to working with me again. She encouraged me to eventually go for my 6th year administrator degree - we'll see! I'd love to have her and Shuana for professors. My parents were extremely proud. I think it was nice for them to hear about my accomplishments from someone else for the first time in about four years. :)
The roomies and I decorated our Oozeball team shirts with blue duct tape that night, and ultimately ended up at Clark's and then at Celeron later that night. I laughed at the complete range of experiences one day could bring...
Saturday, we were up early for our first Oozeball match ever, at 9:45am! It was everything I expected it to be, lol. Naturally, thanks in part to a lack of athletic ability on my part and a lack of coordination on everyone's part because we were playing in 6 inches of mud(!), we were creamed 14-3 and out of the tournament by 10am. It's ok, though, because we had a great amount of fun and after getting hosed off we enjoyed the South campus carnival, or "Ooze-a-palooza". :) It was SO HOT OUT. It got up to about 85 degrees or more, I think, which was so weird considering that just Monday, it was freezing cold and raining. I got sunburn on my face. :) That night, the whole gang went to Red Rock for dinner, and then to Clark's for some proper Spring Weekend celebrating, finally.
We did end up at X-Lot by the end of the night, but didn't stay for very long at all. I took an inebriated Greg home at about 12:15, which was damn lucky because 15 minutes later, instead of telling everyone to clear the parking lot, the cops TEAR GASSED THE ENTIRE CROWD. UConn cops are @$$#0!3$!!!
Sunday was a day of rest. Tutored Felipe in the morning, which wasn't so restful because I forgot that I had promised I would, and then swiped my aunt and cousins into the dining hall for brunch. Lay out in the sun for a good part of the day and got some color (a little too much, which I didn't realize till about 3 hours later!) before church.
Which brings us to Today. Thus starts my final week in the classroom. I just taught my last lesson today, too. Oh my goodness.
determined
So...lots has happened over the week. I had a week off from school soooo...vacation! :)
Last Saturday, went to Greg's, and he took me to the beach for the first time of the season. It was a beautiful day, and kind of breezy, and we walked out on the rocks and sat there for a while. It was so nice. :)
Sunday, cantored at St. Tom's for the first time all year. I think I did a pretty darn good job. What was especially fun about that was that we started a new Alleluia, thanks to Peter's suggesting it, and I got to introduce it to the congregation. It's kind of a gospel-inspired one (from the Spirit Song book) that totally lends itself to embellishment, and it's really fun to sing. Before that, though, my friend Kevin and I, and our choir director Jane after a while, spent the afternoon at Peter's for a cookout. It was a great time! Peter's a good cook, lol. We walked around his house, which is actually an official historic building of CT because it was built in (I believe) 1862, and it's beautiful. We played bocce in the backyard (Pete decided we needed to showcase my "skills" and that he wanted to prove himself again...lol...), and then laughed till our sides hurt playing "Hummmble".
Monday, went back to Peter's house (myself this time) for dinner and we watched "Chuck" and "24" and chatted. Am now hooked on "Chuck". Not so much for the other one. We also looked at some of the stuff from his Italy trip last year. :)
Tuesday, Mom and Dad came up to campus for Laura's tap show. Saw more cousins than I was anticipating, but that's OK. She did a great job, and I found out that a member of my cohort is a very talented member of the tap team.
Wednesday was Michel(l)e Squared's Epic Day Of Shopping. I bought so many presents and cards and stuff and...I'm still not done gift shopping, really. Good thing I have finals week off. I also bought myself 2 new pairs of flats.
Thursday was our Epic Adventure to New Haven. Michelle and I drove to her house in Clinton and picked up her sister Sally, then to East Haven to pick up her Aunt Marge who is visiting from California. We went to the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and Greg met up with us there, and it ended up being a lot of fun! Michelle's Aunt Marge is hilarious. She's just...I can't explain. Here are some examples. Note how almost all of the things coming out of her mouth end in an exclamation point.
"Oh, who's THAT??"
"Aunt Marge, this is my roommate, Michele."
"Well isn't SHE just the CUTEST THING EVER! Nice to meet you!" She gives me a hug, then immediately starts touching my face. "Honey, you feel warm, are you feeling sick?"
"No, it was just warm in the car..."
I'm used to this from my own family. I realize now that there are people who would not be OK with this. And also, she LOVES Greg, which was funny in itself. Even when she was only first seeing him from across the parking lot, she knew he was my boyfriend and started kidding around yelling "DARLING!! YOU'RE HERE!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUUUU!!!" which he of course played right into, much to her delight. We found out that Greg's church is the one that she grew up attending, too. Upon Greg's parting ways with us...
"Oh honey, he's wonderful! You two are such a cute couple!"
"Thanks, Aunt Marge."
"Really! You hang on to him! He's not one you throw back in! He's what you call husband material! He will never leave you, he will never cheat on you! I approve! And when you get married, give me a call, because you need to get married at St. Stanislaus!"
"OoooK, Aunt Marge!"
And apparently, she confided to Sally while we were in the museum that she wanted to grab Greg's butt. XD
On the way home, it was about 7:30, and in a spur-of-the-moment decision, we got off an exit early (after dinner at Friendly's and dropping Aunt Marge back home) and went to watch the sunset at Hammonassett Beach. A perfect ending to the day.
Friday Mom and Dad came back to campus and came to a scholarship night with me because I was awarded a (modest) Neag scholarship. It was really nice, they gave me a beautiful certificate with a case nicer than my high school diploma case, lol...I almost felt like I was back in high school again. The best part, though, was that after the ceremony, one of the professors from the EDLR office where I work in Gentry (or did...it's been ages since I've had hours...) who is ALSO a Michele with one L (!!!!) gushed about me and how great it is/was to have me in the office, and how much she was looking forward to working with me again. She encouraged me to eventually go for my 6th year administrator degree - we'll see! I'd love to have her and Shuana for professors. My parents were extremely proud. I think it was nice for them to hear about my accomplishments from someone else for the first time in about four years. :)
The roomies and I decorated our Oozeball team shirts with blue duct tape that night, and ultimately ended up at Clark's and then at Celeron later that night. I laughed at the complete range of experiences one day could bring...
Saturday, we were up early for our first Oozeball match ever, at 9:45am! It was everything I expected it to be, lol. Naturally, thanks in part to a lack of athletic ability on my part and a lack of coordination on everyone's part because we were playing in 6 inches of mud(!), we were creamed 14-3 and out of the tournament by 10am. It's ok, though, because we had a great amount of fun and after getting hosed off we enjoyed the South campus carnival, or "Ooze-a-palooza". :) It was SO HOT OUT. It got up to about 85 degrees or more, I think, which was so weird considering that just Monday, it was freezing cold and raining. I got sunburn on my face. :) That night, the whole gang went to Red Rock for dinner, and then to Clark's for some proper Spring Weekend celebrating, finally.
We did end up at X-Lot by the end of the night, but didn't stay for very long at all. I took an inebriated Greg home at about 12:15, which was damn lucky because 15 minutes later, instead of telling everyone to clear the parking lot, the cops TEAR GASSED THE ENTIRE CROWD. UConn cops are @$$#0!3$!!!
Sunday was a day of rest. Tutored Felipe in the morning, which wasn't so restful because I forgot that I had promised I would, and then swiped my aunt and cousins into the dining hall for brunch. Lay out in the sun for a good part of the day and got some color (a little too much, which I didn't realize till about 3 hours later!) before church.
Which brings us to Today. Thus starts my final week in the classroom. I just taught my last lesson today, too. Oh my goodness.